John Piper offers these words to those who want to enter the world of fasting. “Do you have a hunger for God? If we don't feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because we have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. If we are full of what the world offers, then perhaps a fast might express, or even increase, our soul's appetite for God. Between the dangers of self-denial and self-indulgence is the path of pleasant pain called fasting.”

Fasting is deliberately abstaining from the normal routines of life for the purposes of spending focus time in prayer and the study of God's word as we seek to align our lives with God’s purposes.

You can abstain from food, entertainment, hobbies, internet or media for the purpose of spending that time in prayer and the study of God’s word. In this we begin to understand that fasting is more about replacing than it is about abstaining. We can pray without fasting but we cannot fast with our praying. Fasting without praying does us no spiritual good and turns this beautiful spiritual discipline into an empty ritual.

Instead of eating a meal, you take your meal time and give it to God, through extended prayer and feeding on His Word. Instead of watching your favorite television program, you take that time and offer it to God as a time of reflecting on your relationship with Him and your spiritual progress as a disciple. Instead of listening to sports radio on your normal commute to take that time and listen to the word of God being read and allow God’s word to wash over your soul.

Noted theologian J.I. Packer said this about fasting in a brief interview, “We tend to think of fasting as going without food. But we can fast from anything. If we love music and decide to miss a concert in order to spend time with God,that is fasting. It is helpful to think of the parallel of human friendship. When friends need to be together, they will cancel all other activities in order to make that possible. There's nothing magical about fasting. It's just one way of telling God that your priority at that moment is to be alone with him, sorting out whatever is necessary, and you have cancelled the meal, party, concert, or whatever else you had planned to do in order to fulfill that priority.” HT

This week there was a shakeup at Halas Hall that reverberated throughout the Chicagoland area. The real disturbance was not around the expected dismissals of the Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman and their General Manager Phil Emery, but when Bears chairman George McCaskey shared his mother’s feelings about the team’s performance this year. The 91 year old team owner Virginia McCaskey (the daughter of the late George Halas, founder of the franchise) thoughts shook up the airwaves in reflecting the intense emotional consternation of every Chicago Bears fan.

After using some very descriptive language of his mother’s feelings, Mr. McCaskey said, “She’s been on this earth for eight of the Bears’ nine championships, and she wants more. She feels that it’s been too long since the last one, and that dissatisfaction is shared by her children, her grandchildren and her great grandchildren.” He concluded by saying, “She’s fed up with mediocrity. She feels that she and Bears fans everywhere deserve better.”

This emotion of being fed up! This feeling of being sick to your stomach with lack luster results is the emotion behind the spiritual discipline of fasting. The sentiment inside all of us which causes us to desire something much better than what we are presently experiencing. The intense feeling of not being happy with the current state of things, whether spiritual, physical, relational, or missional, is the emotion that drives a person to voluntarily enter into a spiritual fast.

The bible is full of examples of spiritual leaders who were just fed up and entered into a spiritual fast to petition God for a spiritual breakthrough.

Moses was fed up with spiritual wanderings of God’s people which led him to fast for 40 days and 40 nights. It was after this fast that he received the Ten Commandments.

“Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant--the Ten Commandments.” Exodus 34:28

King Jehoshaphat being both desperate and fed up with living under the threat of the Assyrian army, and called for a national fast for a miraculous victory against his enemies and received it.

Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.” 2 Chronicles 20:2-3

David was fed up with his prayers returning to him unanswered. He entered a fast to keep himself humbly dependent on God.

“Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting.When my prayers returned to me unanswered.” Psalm 35:13

Leaders of Israel were fed up with the moral and spiritual condition of God’s people and they called for a national fast of repentance.

Ezra was fed up of trusting the kings of this world for their protection and called God’s people to enter into a fast for traveling mercies as they returned from exile and received an answer to their prayers.

“There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, ‘The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.’So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.” Ezra 8:21-23

So when should we empower our prayers with fasting?

First, fasting is a regular spiritual discipline for every serious follower of Jesus, many early Christians fasted two days per week every week.

Second, lengthy fasts of 3, 7, 21 and 40 days should be entered into as a response to the Holy Spirit’s convicting work that is telling us something is not right in our life or ministry whether it is spiritually, relationally, financially, missionally, or corporately as a church.

Third, emergency fasts should be called when we get so fed up with the obstacles that are hindering us from accomplishing God’s purposes and becoming all that God desires us to be as his children.

“The birthplace of Christian fasting is homesickness for God” ~ John Piper

“Fasting helps to express, to deepen, and to confirm the resolution, that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves, to attain the Kingdom of God.” ~ Andrew Murray

"Whenever men are to pray to God concerning any great matter it should be expedient to appoint fasting along with prayer." ~John Calvin

"Fasting is calculated to bring a note of urgency and importunity into our praying, and to give force to our pleading in the court of heaven. The man who prays with fasting is giving heaven notice that he is truly in earnest." ~ Arthur Wallis

"Fasting is not about changing God. It is not a mystical exercise to gain God's approval. Fasting is not about changing my world, but about letting God realign my heart toward his purposes." ~ Alex Gee

“Fasting is not a tool for gaining discipline or developing piety. Instead, fasting is the bulimic act of ridding ourselves of our fullness to attune our senses to the mysteries that swirl in and around us." ~ Dan B. Allender

“As soon as a Christian recognizes that he has failed in his service…that all his joy in God has vanished and that his capacity for prayer has quite gone, it is high time for him to launch an assault upon the flesh, and prepare for better service by fasting and prayer” ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, and kindles the true light of chastity." ~ Augustine

"More than any other single discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us.” ~ Richard Foster

There's nothing magical about fasting. It's just one way of telling God that your priority at that moment is to be alone with him.” ~ J. I. Packer

“Fasting is an act of humility. Fasting gives opportunity for deeper humility as we recognize our sins, repent, receive God's forgiveness, and experience His cleansing of our soul and spirit. Fasting also demonstrates our love for God and our full confidence in His faithfulness." ~ Bill Bright

"Fasting is the soul of prayer; mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So, if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy.” ~ Peter Chrysologus

"Fasting of the body is food for the soul. As bodily food fattens the body, so fasting strengthens the soul.” ~ John Chrysostom

"Fasting possesses great power. If practiced with the right intentions, it makes one a friend of God. The demons are aware of that." ~Tertullian

“Perhaps the greatest hindrance to our work is our own imagined strength; and in fasting we learn what poor, weak creatures we are - dependent on a meal of meat for the l ittle strength which we are so apt to lean upon.” ~James Hudson Taylor

"Is not the neglect of this plain duty--I mean, fasting, ranked by our Lord with almsgiving and prayer.” ~ John Wesley

“The Bible does not teach that fasting is a kind of spiritual hunger strike that compels God to do our bidding. If we ask for something outside of God’s will, fasting does not cause Him to reconsider. Fasting does not change God’s hearing so much as it changes our praying.” ~ Donald Whitney

“A season of fasting and prayer of deep humiliation and confession are the conditions from which a genuine and powerful work springs.” ~ EM Bounds

“Few people arise in the morning as hungry for God as they are for cornflakes or toast and eggs.” ~ Dallas Willard

“So that although these abstinences give some pain to the body, yet they so lessen the power of bodily appetites and passions, and so increase our taste of spiritual joys, that even these severities of religion, when practiced with discretion, add much to the comfortable enjoyment of our lives.” ~ William Law

"Do you fast? Then feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick, do not forget the imprisoned, have pity on the tortured, comfort those who grieve and who weep, be merciful, humble, kind, calm, patient, sympathetic, forgiving, reverent, truthful and pious, so that God might accept your fasting and might plentifully grant you the fruits of repentance." ~ John Chrysostom

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast,but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” (Matthew 9:14-15)

"Fasting is more about longing for the power and presence of Jesus than restricting our appetites." ~ Gary Rohrmayer

“In a world filled with indulgences we need to routinely lay aside our freedoms in Christ through fasting, while seeking the face of God.” ~ Gary Rohrmayer

“Fasting is one means of seeing spiritual breakthrough for a physical or emotional struggle.” ~ Gary Rohrmayer

“Fasting is more about replacing than it is about abstaining. Replacing normal activities with focused times of prayer and feeding on the Word of God.” ~ Gary Rohrmayer

“The rewards of fasting ultimately lead to a more intimate and satisfying experience with the God who made me.” ~ Gary Rohrmayer

“Fasting is turning your hunger pains into requests, prayers and petitions for the world around you.” ~ Gary Rohrmayer

“Fasting is a sacrificial act that realigns our affections from the temporal to the eternal.” ~ Gary Rohrmayer

“Fasting turns each moment of craving into a prayer of intense dependence.” ~ Gary Rohrmayer

“By aligning our hearts with God through fasting we find ourselves consumed by His resplendent nature and filled with the light of His love.” ~ Gary Rohrmayer

“The rewards of fasting are not often instantaneous but are experienced over time.” ~ Gary Rohrmayer

“Every time I have fasted I have found my worship experience sweeter, the illumination of God’s Spirit brighter and the hunger for God’s word stronger.” ~ Gary Rohrmayer

“For the serious minded follower of Jesus fasting is a consistent habit of deliberately restricting our freedoms in Christ for the purpose of seeking the face of God, intimacy with the Son of God and fullness of the Holy Spirit.” ~ Gary Rohrmayer

“The benefits of fasting are a soul strangely satisfied, a mind lifted beyond this world with eternal thoughts and a body refreshed with new strength.” ~ Gary Rohrmayer

“Fasting is an act of humility that spotlights our weaknesses and reveals dependence on things rather than God.” ~ Gary Rohrmayer

“The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie.It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite forheaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is notthe X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality wedrink in every night.” ― John Piper

“The supremacy of God in all things is the great reward we long for in fasting. His supremacy in our own affections and in all our life-choices. His supremacy in the purity of the church. His supremacy in the salvation of the lost. His supremacy in the establishing of righteousness and justice. And his supremacy for the joy of all peoples in the evangelization of the world.” ― John Piper

There is an appetite for God. And it can be awakened. I invite you to turn from the dulling effects of food and the dangers of idolatry, and to say with some simple fast: "This much, O God, I want you."

Our appetites dictate the direction of our lives--whether it be the cravings of our stomachs, the passionate desire for possessions or power, or the longings of our spirits for God. But for the Christian, the hunger for anything besides God can be an arch-enemy. While our hunger for God--and Him alone--is the only thing that will bring victory.

Do you have that hunger for Him? As John Piper puts it: "If we don't feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great." If we are full of what the world offers, then perhaps a fast might express, or even increase, our soul's appetite for God.

Between the dangers of self-denial and self-indulgence is this path of pleasant pain called fasting. It is the path John Piper invites you to travel in this book. For when God is the supreme hunger of your heart, He will be supreme in everything. And when you are most satisfied in Him, He will be most glorified in you. HT

David Brainerd a young missionary in his 20's understood the need for fasting in the advancement of the Gospel as well as the expansion of his soul. Here is a brief testimony from his diary:

Feeling somewhat of the sweetness of communion with God and the force of His love and how it captivates my soul and makes all my desires and affections to center in God, I set apart this day for fasting and prayer to God, to bless me in view of preaching the Gospel. I had life and power in prayer this afternoon. God enabled me to wrestle ardently in intercession for my friends. The Lord visited me marvelously in prayer. I think my soul was never in such agony before. I felt no restraint, for the treasures of God’s grace were opened to me. I wrestled for absent friends and for the ingathering of poor souls. I was in such agony from sun half an hour high till near dark that I was all over wet with sweat. Oh! my dear Savior did sweat blood for these poor souls! I longed for more compassion toward them. I was under a sense of divine love, and went to bed in such a frame of mind, with my heart set on God.

Questions for reflection:

Do you have a fasting testimony?

When is the last time you wrestled with God over the souls of men & women in your life?

When is the last time you tasted the sweetness of God's grace deep with in your soul?

Bill Bright the passionate leader of Campus Crusade (CRU) had a power experience with God in the late 1990's specifically around this area of fasting. Read his fasting testimony and allow God to speak to you through it.

"I believe the power of fasting as it relates to prayer is the spiritual atomic bomb that our Lord has given us to destroy the strongholds of evil and usher in a great revival and spiritual harvest around the world.

Increasingly I have been gripped with a growing sense of urgency to call upon God to send revival to our beloved country. In the spring and summer of 1994, I had a growing conviction that God wanted me to fast and pray for forty days for revival in America and for the fulfillment of the Great Commission in obedience to our Lord's command.

At first I questioned, "Is this truly God's call for me?" Forty days was a long time to go without solid food. But with each passing day, His call grew stronger and more clear. Finally, I was convinced. God was calling me to fast, and He would not make such a call without a specific reason or purpose. With this conviction, I entered my fast with excitement and expectancy mounting in my heart, praying, "Lord, what do you want me to do?"

I believe such a long fast was a sovereign call of God because of the magnitude of the sins of America and of the Church. The Lord impressed that upon my heart, as well as the urgent need to help accelerate the fulfillment of the Great Commission in this generation.

As I began my fast, I was not sure I could continue for forty days. But my confidence was in the Lord to help me. Each day His presence encouraged me to continue. The longer I fasted, the more I sensed the presence of the Lord. The Holy Spirit refreshed my soul and spirit, and I experienced the joy of the Lord as seldom before. Biblical truths leaped at me from the pages of God's Word. My faith soared as I humbled myself and cried out to God and rejoiced in His presence.

This proved to be the most important forty days of my life. As I waited upon the Lord, the Holy Spirit gave me the assurance that America and much of the world will, before the end of the year 2000, experience a great spiritual awakening. This divine visit from heaven will kindle the greatest spiritual harvest in the history of the Church. But before God comes in revival power, the Holy Spirit will call millions of God's people to repent, fast, and pray in the spirit of 2 Chronicles 7:14: "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

The scope of this revival depends on how believers in America and the rest of the world respond to this call. I have spent fifty years studying God's Word and listening to His voice, and His message could not have been more clear." HT

For more on this subject download Bill Bright's 7 Basic Steps to Successful Fasting and Prayer